Thursday, November 17, 2011

Another injury update

Wow, so it's been awhile since I talked about what was going on with my ankle. Short story is: at my most recent physical therapy session, they found a really painful knot of scar tissue deep in my ankle and worked it out. After that, I was able to run a pretty pain-free 4 miler. I followed that up with the "unofficial" Donner Lake Turkey Trot - Since it was cancelled, Gretchen and I did the 7 mile loop around the lake anyway. Ankle was OK there - hurt a little, but never got past a certain point. I was getting kind of excited about running again, and was starting to get a little training plan in my head to get back on track.

So - Tuesday I didn't need to be in to work until 11:15, and figured I'd get a morning run in after dropping off the kids - when it had warmed up a bit and was actually light out. My 5 mile loop backwards sounded like the perfect run - up Keystone, over the top of McCarran, and down 7th St. Everything was going fine; ankle was feeling about like it did up at Donner, and i was just over halfway through the run, going downhill on the inside of McCarran heading towards 7th. There was a crack and raised area of the sidewalk that I didn't see at all, and I apparently caught my right toe on it and went down hard. Honestly, it happened so fast I'm not quite sure which way I fell - just felt a crack that I think was my neck. I canted a bit to the left and ended up rolling about 15 feet down the embankment, coming to rest in some fluffy bushes. And no, none of the cars driving by stopped to see if I was OK.

Trying to pick myself up, I immediately knew something was wrong with my left shoulder. Managed to drag myself back up to the sidewalk, where my water bottle and glasses landed. (Good thing my glasses stayed up there, I wouldn't have been able to find them in the dirt.) I started walking home - about a mile and a half down King's Row - and took stock as I went. Couldn't really move or hold anything with my left arm. Hmm. Fortunately, I had my cell phone with me - I don't usually carry it, but I was testing out a GPS app - so I called my wife, my work to let them know I wouldn't be in, and my doctors office for an appointment.

After a painful change of clothes and awkward shower, I waited around at the doctor's office, then got x-rays. Filled prescriptions for pain meds and picked up a "shoulder immobilizer." Spent the rest of the day loopy on the couch, tweeting on a laptop and watching old episodes of Top Gear. Heard back from the doctor the next day - no break visible on the x-rays. I'll let it rest this weekend and go back in Monday to talk about whether I should see an orthopedist, get an MRI or CT scan, or what. Meanwhile, I have a nasty bruise forming right on the meaty part of my left bicep - weird place to get a bruise from the sidewalk. And I'm back at work - only at about 60% efficiency with my left arm immobilized, but getting stuff done.

So, yeah - be careful out there, people. And if you see a runner take a digger by the side of the road, stop and ask if they're OK, huh?